Lexus ES300h review: Old-fashioned in a fast-changing world but little to complain about

Lexus ES300h luxury interior is very high on quality, including the most comfortable seats on the market and those in the back will have acres of legroom.

Lexus ES300h
Rating	★★★★☆
Price	from €51,595 – as tested
Engine	2.5-litre four-cylinder with a 29-kW electric motor
The Spec	could give a lesson to a few German rivals
Verdict	built for comfort rather than anything else. Take it as such

The power of the press, eh? Well, think about it, the press — and the media in general — do wield an enormous amount of power and they do have a huge influence on people and the events that shape them.

But hell, influencing things when you haven’t even written about them yet? Well, that’s something new. That was the case with the pretty faultless Lexus ES300h we drove recently because not long after we handed the car back, having noted that the only flaw we could see with the car was the very dodgy controller for the infotainment system, we received an email from Lexus.

Not a personal email, you understand, but a general one advising us of model improvements for the ES range for the model year 2023.

Top of the list of changes is a new multimedia system “designed to improve access to information, communication and entertainment.”

Lexus also informed us that the new system is faster than the one it supersedes, with more intuitive operation and increased functionality. So, there you have it: the basis of all our critiques of the car had been sorted before we even got to moan about it.

In fairness, Lexus, that’s what I would call ‘addressing the issues,’ but miraculously it was done before we even got a chance to harp on about said ‘issues’.

So, we can see that Lexus has a crystal ball, but what of its general performance – and especially so here in Ireland where it could be fairly suggested that it has lost ground — or at least is not gaining any ground — on its major competitors from Germany, namely Audi, BMW and Mercedes.

Lexus sold 302 units here to the end of June, while BMW sold 2,666, Audi sold 2,615 and Mercedes sold 2,317 for respective 9th, 10th and 12th places in the Irish sales charts. Of the other premium brands, Volvo sold 982 and Tesla sold 679 for 16th and 19th places respectively. Lexus was 23rd.

They were ahead of Land Rover, Porsche and Jaguar but, in terms of the bigger picture, Lexus seems to be treading water.

The NX (143) units were the best Lexus seller, ahead of the ES (101), the UX (42), The RX (14) and the LS and the LC (both selling 1), so you can see that the brand is not exactly selling shedloads of product. That said, the ES is, going forward, a hugely important part of the brand’s line-up.

The ES has actually only been with us since 2018 and was facelifted in 2021, which seems to suggest that they did not take notice of the complaints about the infotainment system all that seriously up to 12 months ago and are now only “addressing the issues”.

But fear not, if you’ve ordered a new one, chances are you’ll be getting a M/Y 2023 car anyway because they will come on stream next October, with production having begun in August.

As it is, the ES actually only replaced the GS range here in 2019, shortly after it was launched.

The GS was a mildly popular choice before that and it differed from the ES not so much in looks but by the fact it was rear-wheel drive.

Since its global launch, however, the ES has become the company’s biggest selling saloon car, but it is also its smallest since the company stopped making the IS and the RC Coupe models.

It is a very important car for Lexus, whichever way you look at it and especially looking at it in the context of opposition such as the Audi A6, the BMW 5 Series and the Mercedes E-Class.

It is a hybrid — of course, it is — and it is powered by a naturally aspirated 2.5 litre four-cylinder engine, bolstered by a 29-kW electric motor. This translates into a top speed of 180 km/h and 0-100 km/h time of 8.9 seconds.

Maximum power is 181 bhp and 221 Nm. Consumption works out 50.9 mpg or 5.5 l/100 km. The gearbox is a CVT auto and the car is driven by the front wheels.

Now some of those figures will not have sent your mind into overdrive with the expectation of it all, but it is fair to say that this is not a dull car to drive. It might not be the most exciting you’ve ever parked your ass in, but it’s not that bad either.

This is a car that is aimed more at the buyer for whom comfort rather than performance is the key characteristic. Lexus is rightly proud of the sound deadening they have engineered into the car.

Indeed for much of the time the only thing you will hear is the tyres doing their thing because there is little or no wind and engine noise.

The ES would never be inclined to take on a BMW over a demanding road and I don’t think even Lexus wanted that to be the case. Out on the road it demonstrates little to no fault; body roll is minimal and steering responses are sharp and accurate.

This is a car which does not generate a lot of seat-of-the-pants feel, but it is certainly a lot more agile than you would have given it credit for.

Sure it is a big, wafty hybrid, but it does have a soul and if you’re feeling sprightly then you can access the ‘Sport’ mode — via the switches atop the instrumentation binnacle — but the ‘Normal’ setting is the one most drivers will default to regularly, given the breadth of driving scope on offer there.

Given this is a Lexus, the quality of the interior is only to be expected and it is good. The quality of the décor and the materials used all err to the plush end of things. Quality is expected here and that’s what is delivered.

Indeed the only black mark is those pesky infotainment controls, but we’ve already addressed that and, as we’ve seen, so too has Lexus.

Comfort levels aren’t quite extreme, but they’re bloody good and not only will driver and passengers enjoy among the most comfortable seats on the market, but those in the back will have acres of legroom too.

Boot space is also pretty vast and, on that basis alone, this car will enjoy considerable support from the golfing set.

Another element worth noting here is that a lot of the specification is included in the asking price and Lexus has eschewed the route chosen by many European manufacturers whereby the standard offering is affordable, but once you start adding extras, the cost shoots up alarmingly.

Overall then, it is luxurious and comfortable and a very relaxed drive. It is also very well specified and Hi-Fi heads should note the excellent Mark Levinson sound system on offer here.

Some might maintain this is something of an old-fashioned car in a fast-changing world, but when it’s offering the levels of luxury and comfort found here, then there should be little to complain about. And I suspect that will be the case with most owners.